Apollo 13 (1995): Ron Howard Best Film to Date, Starring Tom Hanks | Emanuel Levy Apollo 13 (1995): Ron Howard Best Film to Date, Starring Tom Hanks April 25, 2006 by EmanuelLevy Leave a Comment Tom Hanks gets to be practically weightless as astronaut Jim Lovell, in Apollo 13, Ron Howards 1995 film about the ill-fated NASA mission, based on the book by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, Last Moon. Al Reinert, whose space documentary For All Mankind received an Oscar nomination, partnered on the script with his former editor at Texas monthly, William Broyles. The 1970 trip to the moon, which was interrupted by an explosion in the command module, severely endangered the lives of three astronauts. With time running out, the crew and thousands of others braved near-impossible odds in a daring attempt to guide the capsule earthward. For three days, TV viewers watched in rapt silence, not knowing until the last moment, whether the men of Apollo 13 would come home alive. At first, it seemed the perfect mission.

After three days in space, three Apollo astronauts, Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), were finally approaching a long-cherished destination, going to the Moon. Back in Houston, Astronaut Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) considered himself unlucky; two days before the launch, he’d been grounded for medical reasons. When Jim Lovell intoned a simple, heart-stopping message across the void of space: “Houston, we’ve got a problem,” the whole world gasped. Something had gone horribly wrong. Power and guidance systems were down, and the supply of oxygen was rapidly dwindling. Lovell, Haise and Swigert faced the grim reality that their capsule, stranded 205,000 miles in space, might never return to earth. To enjoy Apollo 13, you have to embrace details, lots of them, some routine, some fascinating, about the space program and its personnel. The film is structured as a classic adventure, with the astronauts as explorers, who heroically are forced to withstand bizarre physical humiliations.

For better or worse, Howard takes a decidedly straight approach, telling the story in linear way, and assuming that a mission that almost ended in disaster is dramatic enough; he doesnt pump up the events or the characters. The film follows the astronauts as they prepare for the launch, and then describes the accidents, concluding with the bumpy and terrifying ride home. Contained and predictable as it is, Apollo 13 nevertheless works up excitement. One of the ironies is that not many American were interested in the mission–until things went awry. Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon the previous summer, July 1969, and the American public seemed to be indifferent toward the new attempt. As played by Hanks, the space-flight vet Jim Lovell comes across as a straight, confident guy with a touch of poetic fancy and whimsy underneath, who can afford to be relaxed. Bill Paxton, as Fred Haise, and Kevin Bacon, as Jack Swigert, are not as interesting or charismatic as Hanks, and thats a problem. However, the technicians and administrations, led by a taut and hostile Ed Harris, show effectively the importance of the esprit de corps; the honor of the whole collective related to the mission is at stake.

According to Howards interpretation, the astronauts and the ground personnel were not swaggering romantic adventurers, but organized military men with a characteristic code of behavior and tightly controlled demeanor. They obeyed orders, did what they were told, and were very loyal to one another. Unlike most American movie adventures, Apollo 13 celebrates not individual but communal (the whole teams) heroism. In this, and other respects, the movie is straight and square white Americana, but nonetheless still stirring and satisfying. Whenever the film sidetracks from the main narrative, it falters, as with most of its domestic scenes, which are banal. This is particularly the case of the scene in which Lovells prescient wife (Kathleen Quinlan) suffers through premonitory dreams and drops her wedding ring down the shower drain, an act that foreshadows trouble. However, for most of the time, particularly when the module turns red as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere, you will be just as tense and scared as the three men. Authentic and realistic in most details, Apollo 13 displays the gung-ho and can-do attitude, expected of these men.

And its a tribute to Howards taut direction that the film is suspenseful, despite its historically preordained happy ending. Problem is, Apollo 13 comes across as too square, embodying such old-fashioned American values as courage in the face of adversity, collective honor, loyalty. The extensive focus on the mission seems to prelude any in-depth characterization, except for Hanks role. Like Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 opts for simplicity and clarity, putting down, for example, the hippies and counter-cultural movement. Furthermore, there is no reference to Vietnam, the anti-War movement, feminism and sexual politics, and other racial problems that besieged the country in 1970. When Apollo 13 was released, inevitable comparisons were made with Philip Kaufmans 1983 The Right Stuff, a better, more succinct, more ambiguous, and more ironic treatment of the pioneering astronauts. Nominated for 9 Oscars, Apollo 13 won 2 (See list below).

Though most polls predicted it would win the Best Picture Oscar, the award went to its major competitor, Mel Gibson’s violent historical epic, “Braveheart.” Oscar Nominations: 9 Apollo 13 (1995) Apollo 13 Certificate: pg Synopsis Houston, we have a problem... Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton play the beleaguered, real-life astronauts of what turned out to be NASA's most nail-biting mission when their spacecraft develops a crippling fault. Director Ron Howard cranks up the suspense while Ed Harris plays Gene Krantz, the ground controller who tries to guide them home. Based on the book by Hanks' character Jim Lovell, this technical wonder won Oscars for editing and sound. Director Kathleen Quinlan Review "Houston, we have a problem! " With these matter-of-fact words, there started an epic space rescue saga that proves every bit as gripping in director Ron Howard's film reconstruction as it did in real life.

The performances are all A1: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton as the crew, Ed Harris at Mission Control, Kathleen Quinlan as Hanks' wife and Gary Sinise as the astronaut whose last-minute defection (through contact with measles) proved a godsend when he was able to bring his expertise to parts of the rescue mission. Despite its length, the story moves crushingly along, allowing almost no respite from its tension. Apollo 13 | Film from RadioTimes Our Score by Adrian Turner In April 1970, astronaut Jim Lovell contacted mission control with the words "Houston, we've had a problem." It was a classic understatement, signalling a huge, complex malfunction to be solved. Lovell and his crew - Jack Swigert and Fred Haise - were bound for the Moon when an oxygen tank exploded in their craft, leaving them potentially stranded in space. It gave Nasa's scientists the most nail-biting countdown of the space age so far and kept Americans - by then blasé about the space programme - glued to their TVs. It is the ultimate rescue story and the movie pays due tribute to the bravery of the astronauts as well as American know-how.

Lovell is played by Tom Hanks, whose very ordinariness - blandness, some would say - is the essence of astronaut-man, while Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton as Swigert and Haise offer welcome contrasts, as does the superb Ed Harris as the chain-smoking mission controller. Partially filmed in genuine weightless conditions, Ron Howard's movie is a technical tour de force. It's not as good as The Right Stuff, but it's light years ahead of 1969's Marooned, which, prophetically, offered up a similar story as science fiction but was so very, very dull. Summary Fact-based drama about the ill-fated 1970 Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Crew leader Jim Lovell is faced with a nightmare when the mission suffers an on-board explosion - leaving the team stranded in space with a dwindling oxygen supply while flight controllers and engineers in Houston try to find a way to bring the crew safely back to Earth. With Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise.

Cast & Crew Movie Review - - FILM REVIEW; 'Apollo 13,' a Movie for the Fourth of July - NYTimes.com FILM REVIEW; 'Apollo 13,' a Movie for the Fourth of July By JANET MASLIN Published: June 30, 1995 THE line of dialogue that will be best remembered from Ron Howard's absolutely thrilling new "Apollo 13" is a slight variation on the truth. "Houston, we have a problem," says one of this film's three endangered astronauts, although "Houston, we've had a problem" is what Jim Lovell actually said. It's a small but important change, one more way that "Apollo 13" unfolds with perfect immediacy, drawing viewers into the nail-biting suspense of a spellbinding true story. You can know every glitch that made this such a dangerous mission, and "Apollo 13" will still have you by the throat. Better even than Mr. Howard's sure hand with this fascinating material is his film's unexpected restraint. "Apollo 13" understands the difference between movie bravado and real courage, and it celebrates the latter in inspiring ways that have almost gone out of style.

With Tom Hanks, wonderful again, as the Everyman in the driver's seat, "Apollo 13" isn't afraid of the stone-cold fear at the heart of this tale or of the intricate group effort needed to see it through. This film and its brave, believable characters are uplifting in ways that have nothing to do with a voyage to outer space. We take it for granted today that there have been a hundred manned American space flights, and that an astronaut can remain in orbit almost unnoticed for a three-month stretch. But the weeklong adventure of the Apollo 13 crew unfolded in a very different atmosphere. In April 1970, the space program still aroused strong emotions: attention had begun to wane after the previous year's moon walk, but the nation found itself desperately receptive to the astronauts' unforeseen display of heroism after their flight became so perilous. "Apollo 13" doesn't mention Vietnam, but it doesn't have to. The war-weary climate of that time enhances this film's wishful, stirring faith in American know-how. Like "Quiz Show," "Apollo 13" beautifully evokes recent history in ways that resonate strongly today.

Cleverly nostalgic in its visual style (Rita Ryack's costumes are especially right), it harks back to movie making without phony heroics and to the strong spirit of community that enveloped the astronauts and their families. Amazingly, this film manages to seem refreshingly honest while still conforming to the three-act dramatic format of a standard Hollywood hit. It is far and away the best thing Mr. Howard has done (and "Far and Away" was one of the other kind). Equally sound was casting his own mother (Jean Speegle Howard) as Jim Lovell's mother, a real corker. "Are you boys in the space program, too?" she sweetly asks the film's Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. "Apollo 13" makes it unsurprising that Jim Lovell ("no stranger to emergencies he," a television commentator says) would come from sturdy stock. Mr. Lovell is presented as a quietly gung-ho commander, the kind of man who tells his wife (played brightly and affectingly by Kathleen Quinlan) that he's going to the moon as if that's great news. For Mr.

Lovell, on whose memoir, "Lost Moon" (written with Jeffrey Kluger), the film is based, it actually was: he had come tantalizingly close to the moon on the Apollo 8 flight and enthusiastically looked forward to a lunar landing. Instead, on a mission whose original flight plan was abruptly aborted, he was lucky to come home alive. The science behind "Apollo 13" is detailed and specific, and the film conveys it with superb simplicity. Easy as it would have been to sling showy high-tech jargon, the screenplay (credited to William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert) is gratifyingly terse and clear. With a pitch-perfect ear for NASA syntax ("Come on, rookie, park that thing"), the film stays informative while dealing with arcane facts that became matters of life and death. You may see no more dazzling display of ingenuity all year than the authentic way the film's NASA technicians scramble with cardboard and duct tape to make a square peg fit a round hole.

In terms of realism, nothing else here comes close to the staggering fact that some of the film's zero-gravity scenes were shot aboard a KC-135 NASA plane on a steep parabolic orbit that earned it the nickname "vomit comet." Some may feel that Mr. Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton, who play the astronauts so expertly, deserve something better than the usual end-of-the-year recognition for having even taken these roles. These three stars (and their terrific backup teammates on the ground, especially Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly, an astronaut benched at the last minute because of a measles scare, and Ed Harris as the nail-spitting flight commander, Gene Kranz) capture an extraordinary verisimilitude. No film about space travel has done a more realistic job of conveying the strangeness and exhilaration of such exploits, not to mention the terror summed up by Mr. Bacon's Jack Swigert: "If this doesn't work, we're not going to have the power to get home." Crippled by the explosion of one of its oxygen tanks as it neared the moon, the spaceship Odyssey experienced sudden electrical failures that forced the astronauts to shut it down.

They took refuge in their lunar exploration module, the Aquarius, which was neither built nor programmed to bring three men back to earth. Computer readjustments, navigational problems, lack of heat in space, fear of incineration on re-entry, condensation that made the flight "a little like trying to drive a toaster through a car wash": all these troubles are grippingly dealt with in cinematically unconventional ways. When the guys in this film frantically get out their slide rules, they're executing a gutsier rescue than the maneuvers of any cape-wearing cartoon superhero. Thanks largely to Mr. Hanks' foursquare presence here, the empathy factor for "Apollo 13" is through the roof. This actor's way of amplifying the ordinary side of an extraordinary character remains supremely fine-tuned. Playing the tough, commanding Jim Lovell is a substantial stretch for Mr. Hanks, but as usual his seeming ingenuousness overshadows all else about the role. There's not a false move to anything he does on screen. Once again, he gives a performance that looks utterly natural and is, in fact, subtly new.

The other principal performances are equally staunch, giving vivid, likable impressions of characters whose rough edges have been only slightly smoothed. (The fact that Gene Kranz liked to start his day listening to John Philip Sousa marches, as reported in Andrew Chaikin's lucid Apollo overview, "A Man on the Moon," is the kind of thing not dealt with by Mr. Harris's tight, steely performance.) Also notable about "Apollo 13": James Horner's rousing music, convincing rocket scenes that don't come from NASA and an authentic glimpse of the role of television reporting during the Apollo crisis. The news media can be faulted for some of the behavior seen here, but Mr. Howard doesn't waste time taking those potshots. Truly, "Apollo 13" has better things to do. "Apollo 13" is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). It includes very mild profanity and very brief sexual situations. Children old enough to follow its story should love it -- and they'll find out how to go to the bathroom in space. APOLLO 13 Directed by Ron Howard; written by William Broyles Jr.

and Al Reinert, based on the book "Lost Moon," by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger; director of photography, Dean Cundey; edited by Mike Hill and Dan Hanley; music by James Horner, with vocal performance by Annie Lennox; production designer, Michael Corenblith; costumes by Rita Ryack; produced by Brian Grazer; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 135 minutes. This film is rated PG. WITH: Tom Hanks (Jim Lovell), Kevin Bacon (Jack Swigert), Bill Paxton (Fred Haise), Gary Sinise (Ken Mattingly), Ed Harris (Gene Kranz), Kathleen Quinlan (Marilyn Lovell) and Jean Speegle Howard (Blanch Lovell). Apollo 13 | Ok.com Apollo 13 Share this movie Apollo 13 Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr.

and Al Reinert, that dramatizes the 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission, is an adaptation of the book Lost Moon by astronaut Jim Lovell (the story's protagonist) and Jeffrey Kluger. Released in the United States on June 30, 1995, Apollo 13 garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for many awards, most notably nine Academy Awards including Best Picture; it won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing. In total, the film grossed over $355 million worldwide during its theatrical releases. On July 20, 1969, veteran astronaut Jim Lovell hosts a party for other astronauts and their families, who watch on television as their colleague Neil Armstrong takes his first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Lovell, who orbited the Moon on Apollo 8, tells his wife Marilyn that he intends to go up again. While giving a VIP tour of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, Lovell is informed by Deke Slayton that he and his crew will fly the Apollo 13 mission instead of Apollo 14.

After informing his Release Date: June 30, 1995 Genre: Adventure , Drama , Historical drama Welcome to the ok.com Rating Widget Share what age you think this movie is appropriate for by clicking one of the bars on our age-rating chart below. Then, tell us if you think the movie was worth your time by clicking either the thumbs up or thumbs down button. After you leave at least one rating (either age or worth your time), you can optionally leave a review for others to read. What would you rate it? ? G PG PG-13 R say worth your time 0 Votes No Critic Votes Yet Submit Thank you for reviewing! Thank you for taking the time to share your review with the Ok.com community. Now, let everyone else know what you think by sharing your review on Facebook and Twitter. Trailers What Do Your Friends Think? Login to see what your friends think. Related Articles ChrisHicks (Male) Deseret News Critic No Maturity Rating | Opie has finally delivered the goods!

Ron Howard, who began his show-biz career as young Opie on the "Andy Griffith Show" and gained additional fame as '50s teenager Richie Cunningham in "Happy Days" before shifting to the big screen to become a successful director with such hit films as "Splash," "Parenthood," "Cocoon," "Backdraft" and "Far and Away," has long been considered a solid commercial filmmaker. But he has never been able to come up with the winning formula for a movie that would gain the respect of critics, much less voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Until now. "Apollo 13" would seem to be the movie he's been striving for all these years. With help from a superb ensemble cast, top-of-the-line special effects and an intelligent, witty screenplay that tells a true story filled with suspense and human drama, Howard has come up with a potential box-office and critical smash. And yes, it may even be remembered come Oscar-nominating season. It doesn't matter that we already know the outcome.

In fact, for those of us old enough to remember the spring of 1970 when the real-life "Apollo 13" incident gripped the nation, it only revives memories, making the intricacies of what happened all the more horrifying. That incident, of course, was a space capsule suddenly being crippled while on a journey to the moon, leaving three astronauts stranded with only a glimmer of hope that they would be able to return to Earth. To make that return, astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) had to summon every ounce of courage, discipline and training, as they were coached by Mission Control experts (led by Ed Harris) and touched by the prayers of loved ones (most notably Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell). What makes "Apollo 13" such a remarkable film, however, is that it relates in intricate detail the ingenuity of this teamwork without sacrificing the human side of the story. It also manages to re-create the period quite satisfactorily while never really feeling dated.

Hanks is terrific as Lovell but the film is very much an ensemble effort, and Paxton, Bacon and Gary Sinise as fellow astronaut Ken Mattingly, who was scrubbed from the mission but became a key player in the rescue, are equally fine. Harris (who played John Glenn in "The Right Stuff") is perfect as the level-headed, optimistic leader of the ground team, Loren Dean is very good as a flight controller who works with Mattingly to solve re-entry problems and Quinlan is also on-target as Lovell's wife, whose superstitious premonitions seem to foretell what's coming and who stoically (but not too idealistically) represents all the astronaut wives who watched and waited as their husbands explored outer space. As usual, Howard's brother Clint and father Rance show up in small roles, but it is his mother, Jean Speegle Howard, who really delivers the goods in a touching performance as Lovell's mother. The script, by William Broyles Jr. (TV's "China Beach") and documentarian Al Reinert ("For All Mankind"), nicely boils down Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger's book "Lost Moon" and all of the production aspects are top-notch.

The film's ad line is is the famous sentence spoken by Lovell, "Houston, we've got a problem." But this film has no problem at all. "Apollo 13" is rated PG for some cussing and some vulgar gags. June 30th, 1995 · Details Apollo 13 (1995) - FAQ The content of this page was created directly by users and has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Visit our FAQ Help to learn more FAQ How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie? For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for can be found here .Apollo 13 What is 'Apollo 13' about?

Veteran astronaut James Lovell ( Tom Hanks ), along with Fred Haise ( Bill Paxton ) and Jack Swigert ( Kevin Bacon ), are assigned to NASA's Apollo 13 mission with the goal of landing a man on the moon for the third time. On April 11, 1970, they are successfully launched. However, on the third day out, one of the two oxygen tanks in the Command module Odyssey explodes and the other is found to be leaking, forcing them to abort the mission and return to Earth. While the astronauts are forced to run on minimum systems to conserve power, Flight director Gene Krantz ( Ed Harris ), astronaut Ken Mattingly ( Gary Sinise ), and the rest of the Mission Control team search for ways to keep the atmosphere breathable inside the Lunar Module Aquarius and help the astronauts conserve power. Meanwhile, the astronauts' wives and family as well as the entire world wait anxiously for their safe return. Did Gene Krantz really say "failure is not an option"? According to Apollo 13 Flight Dynamics Officer Jerry Bostick, no. In preparation for the movie, the writers interviewed Bostick about the experience.

One of their questions was "Weren't there times when everybody, or at least a few people, just panicked?" Bostick's answer was "No, when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them. We never panicked, and we never gave up on finding a solution." When the writers got in their car to leave, they immediately decided that "failure is not an option" would be the tagline for the movie. They then decided to give the line to Gene Krantz. Why were they out of communication for so long after re-entry? Normal reentry blackout was about three minutes. Apollo 13 came in on a shallower trajectory than other missions resulting in a longer period in the upper atmosphere where there was less deceleration of the capsule. The reduced pace of deceleration lengthened the time that the heat of reentry produced ionized gasses capable of attenuating the radio signal (blackout). The projection from the reentry crew in Houston had been for 3:30 minutes and there was some alarm when radio contact could not be established after that amount of time had elapsed. What does Lovell say during his epilogue voiceover?

He says: Our mission was called a 'successful failure' in that we returned safely but never made it to the moon. In the following months, it was determined that a damaged coil built inside the oxygen tank sparked during our cryo stir and caused the explosion that crippled the 'Odyssey'. It was a minor defect that occurred two years before I was even named the flight's commander. Fred Haise was going back to the moon on Apollo 18, but his mission was canceled due to budget cuts. He never flew in space again. Nor did Jack Swigert, who left the astronaut corps and was elected to Congress from the state of Colorado, but he died of cancer before he was able to take office. Ken Mattingly orbited the moon as command-module pilot of the Apollo 16 and even flew the space shuttle, having never gotten the measles. Gene Kranz retired as director of flight operations just not long ago. And many others in Mission Control have gone on to other things, but some are still there. And as for me, the seven extraordinary days of Apollo 13 were my last in space. I watched other men walk on the moon and return safely, all from the confines of Mission Control.

I sometimes catch myself looking up at the moon, remembering the changes of fortune in our long voyage, thinking of the thousands of people who worked to bring us home. I look up at the moon and wonder when will we be going back and who will that be? What became of the Lunar Module after it was jettisoned? The Lunar Module was designed for an impact area into a deep oceanic trench, because it was carrying a "nuclear battery" called an RTG, which was supposed to be left on the moon to power the various scientific instruments that they were going to deploy. They wanted to make sure that the RTG and the several pounds of plutonium fuel inside it would be as isolated from the environment as possible once it re-entered. The RTG casing was designed to withstand an explosion on launch or an unprotected re-entry without breaking open in the atmosphere. It should still be right where it landed, deep in the ocean, heating the water around it and hopefully not corroding away too badly. How does the movie end? All three astronauts move into the Command Module of the Odyssey in order to jettison the Service Module.

Upon its jettison, they are finally able to see the extent of the damage and wonder whether the Odyssey's heat shields are intact, necessary to keep them from burning up on re-entry. Swigert successfully gets the Odyssey started up by transmitting extra power from the Aquarius, which they also jettison just before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. As everyone on the ground anxiously waits, praying that the heat shield will hold through the inferno of re-entry, the Odyssey goes into communications blackout (a period of radio silence due to ionization interference). When the blackout time goes beyond the expected three minutes, the command center goes into complete silence. Only Mattingly's voice can be heard asking, 'Odyssey, this is Houston. Do you read me?' Suddenly, the Odyssey emerges from the clouds with all three of its parachutes open. Lovell's voice is heard, saying, 'Hello, Houston. This is Odyssey. It's good to see you again.' Everyone breaks into cheers and applause, Kranz collapses in his chair, and the module lands safely in the South Pacific where they are rescued by divers and taken by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima on April 17, seven days after being launched into space.

In the final scene, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert emerge from their helicopter on the deck of the Iwo Jima to the cheers of a hero's welcome. In a voiceover, Lovell tells what caused the explosion and what the future holds for Haise, Swigert, Mattingly, and Kranz. How accurate is the film? For the most part, the film is accurate, but as with most historical docudramas, some dramatic license was taken. Some notable examples: Haise never blamed Swigert for the accident, and the fight between them never actually happened (Jim Lovell mentions this on the Special Edition DVD commentary); The NASA director says that if Swigert can't dock with the lunar module, they don't have a mission. In reality, if Swigert couldn't have docked, Haise or Lovell could have done it; Gene Kranz never said "failure is not an option"; it was actually Jack Swigert, not Lovell, who made the first transmission to mission control after emerging from re-entry.

Jim Lovell also mentions on the DVD commentary that he felt that the Grumman Corporation "got a bum rap" in the film by being portrayed with a "no-can-do" attitude. In reality, they played a key role in bringing the astronauts home safely. The movie gives the impression that the Lunar Module - Command Module reverse power transfer and subsequent power-up sequence is masterminded by Ken Mattingly. The Ken Mattingly character as portrayed in the movie is in fact a composite character representing a team of people including Charlie Duke. The power-up procedure is mainly credited to John Aaron who was known as a notoriously efficient problem solver. The communications blackout lasted only 33 seconds longer than the expected three minutes, not the four or more minutes as depicted in the film. In real life, Marilyn Lovell retrieved her ring from the shower drain. Why did the ground team applaud when Gene Krantz puts on the vest? What did he receive the vest for? The vest was made by Gene's wife, who makes him a new one every time he supervises a new space mission. If you listen closely while the box is being delivered to Gene, one of his crew remarks "Can't argue with tradition!".

The ground crew are just giving Gene a friendly hard time over it, picking on him because his wife cares about him enough to sew for him each time. Also, it seems that Mrs Krantz took a bit longer to make this particular vest because you can hear Gene mutter "Thank you, Tom [the tech who brings Gene the box]. I was gettin' worried." "Apollo 13": Alternatives to the 1995 feature film - collectSPACE: Messages collectSPACE: Messages "Apollo 13": Alternatives to the 1995 feature film Topic: "Apollo 13": Alternatives to the 1995 feature film Buel Some of you may find this hard to believe but I consider myself a Space/Apollo fan but I have never seen the Apollo 13 movie. The reason for this is I have heard/read that it is, partly, factually inaccurate (which really puts me off). Another reason is that I believe it exaggerates Gene Kranz's role in the event whereas I heard that actually Glynn Lunney was more prominent. Please can I ask are there any alternatives to the film that you would recommend, perhaps a documentary of some sort.

I hope you can understand my reluctance to watch the movie. Robert Pearlman If I may, I think your reluctance is misplaced. So long as you realize that "Apollo 13" is not a documentary (which, by your own acknowledgment, you do), then it is an excellent film. Yes, it takes certain liberties, combining characters and adding a conflict between the crew that the astronauts say never happened, but it gets a great many of the details correct — so much so, that it was criticized by some for being unbelievable, even though it was how the real events played out (e.g. Marilyn Lovell losing her wedding ring on the morning of the launch). More importantly though, "Apollo 13" can be credited with changing the public's opinion of and awareness of the mission, itself becoming part of the flight's cultural history. "Apollo 13" is one of the few films I can watch countless times and appreciate with each viewing.

Tom Hanks does a masterful job capturing Jim Lovell's persona and Ed Harris does such a good job capturing Gene Kranz, that Kranz adopted several of Harris' lines from the film as his own (much like Gordon Cooper adopted Wolfe's "Who's the best pilot you've ever seen?" line from "The Right Stuff"). Buel The brief shouting match on Aquarius is the only scene that really makes me cringe at all (unlike many, many scenes in "The Right Stuff," which I like a great deal as a movie but have to turn the "Reality Switch" in my brain off each time I watch it). Some other "wrong" details always jump out at me, such as Mattingly being in the wrong state at launch time (not to mention not being liquified by being within a half-mile of a Saturn V lighting off!), but they don't bother me. One other point that I've heard criticisms on concerns how the film takes several groups of people and distills them into just one or two characters. For example, the OP mentioned Kranz, and yes, he sort of stands in for multiple flight directors at times.

Similarly, Mattingly is really the only on-the-ground astronaut featured as working through all of the simulations, although he was in reality just one of several. I guess that's a valid criticism, but at the same time I recognize why the filmmakers did this--introducing everyone involved in a way that would have kept everyone clear and interesting to the audience would have been difficult, not to mention that it probably would have added an hour to the film. Keeping it simple in this regard was probably a good decision from a filmmaking perspective, even if it does take some liberties with reality. FullThrottle "Apollo 13" is fantastic, and you need to watch it now. I don't have much to add to Robert's summary. The only qualification I can speak of addresses the previously referenced tension portrayed onscreen between Fred Haise and Jack Swigert. If I recall correctly, actor Bill Paxton ("Fred Haise") acknowledged in the DVD commentary that "some dramatic license" was taken in this scene.

I live in Jack Swigert's hometown of Denver, and I recall that when the film was released there was something of a clamor about his portrayal by Kevin Bacon as a randy bachelor (may or may not have been true) and as a shaky "rookie" (definitely not true; his crewmates, while unhappy about Mattingly's scrub, had total confidence in Swigert's ability to fly the mission.) Anyway, it's a drama, not a documentary, and the key figures portrayed generally understood that certain accommodations with entertainment were made and accepted them. I know that Gene Kranz was a big fan of the movie, as was (noted) Jim Lovell. Look for Lovell at the end, appearing as the captain of the recovery ship greeting the crew (He refused to wear captain's bars onscreen, as he hadn't actually earned them.) As for the movie itself, I saw it in a theater during its original release, and the full house cheered when Apollo 13's chutes opened. Don't know what to add to that. YankeeClipper It is often said that life and art imitate each other.

Before the movie Apollo 13 (1995) and the mission Apollo 13 (1970), came the movie Marooned (1969) which was adapted from a 1964 Martin Caidin novel. Marooned is about 3 astronauts stranded in a space emergency and stars Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, and Gene Hackman. In real life, NASA Apollo 13 CDR Jim Lovell took his wife Marilyn to see it prior to his mission and it is where the idea of Marilyn's nightmare in the Apollo 13 movie originates. Marooned may actually have played a supporting role in the real life Apollo 13 emergency as NASA Apollo 13 Warning System Engineer Jerry Woodfill relates here . NASA Apollo 13 Flight Dynamics Officer Jerry Bostick was consulted by the Apollo 13 movie team and explains the true origin of the line "Failure is not an option!" here . NASA Apollo 15 CDR Dave Scott was the main technical consultant for Apollo 13 with NASA Skylab 4 SCI-PLT Ed Gibson assisting for a day.

Jim and Marilyn Lovell both appear in Apollo 13 - Marilyn is in the viewing stand on launch day behind her character while Jim plays the recovery carrier captain at the end. Small details like Mount Marilyn on the Moon and Jim covering the Moon with his thumb are referenced. If you purchase the Apollo 13 2-Disc Special Edition , there is the option to listen to a running commentary from both of them on the movie as it screens which is interesting. There are additional astronaut interviews aswell. Sure there is dramatic licence taken when required - e.g. Fred Haise's urinary tract infection was debilitating in real life but he told me he could still function. The movie's main attribute is its ability to convey a sense of what it felt like to be aboard that mission e.g. the devastation at losing the lunar landing, the cold in the LEM, the worry about moisture in the electrical panels etc. It covers a lot of space and aspects of the mission and does it pretty well for a historical docudrama. Apollo 13 I would recommend you watch - if nothing else large sections were filmed aboard a "vomit comet". Marooned is for the true aficionado curious about history!

KSCartist I recently watched the Apollo 13 post flight press conference on YouTube. At the beginning Jim and Fred introduce their wives to the audience. Then Jim says that "the entire crew of Continental stewardess' are here for Jack." So Jack's reputation of being a "ladies man" was well known. You can see it here at the 4 minute mark. I have a letter from Lovell written in 1983 where he praises Swigert. East Hartford, CT was my hometown. In 1983 we honored Swigert as an adopted son. He had been a test pilot for Pratt & Whitney and a member of the CTANG prior to joining NASA. nasamad quote: Originally posted by 4allmankind: For a space historian/fan that is reluctant to watch Apollo 13 because of its dramatic flair, I would recommend to you to watch it if nothing else for the fact that most of your friends and family have seen it. This is an excellent point.

For many people with little exposure to the subject — especially those too young to have any recollection of the actual events — "Apollo 13" may well be their only point of reference to the moon missions and the space program in general. I've found that movie to be a great conversation prompt on several occasions. Also, thanks Al (albatron) for the correction on Lovell's rank. I was referencing an anecdote purely from memory; either I misreported it or the source was wrong, not sure which. YankeeClipper I think Jim Lovell originally thought that Kevin Costner might play the Apollo 13 CDR based on facial and physical similarity. Interesting to wonder how the movie would have turned out with Costner in the lead role - I think he would have done ok providing he could have handled all the filming aboard the "vomit comet". Here's an interesting article on Apollo 13 with observations from Ken Mattingly on how the movie differed from real life. He talks about previous mission simulations and how certain emergency procedures were originally conceived and then rapidly adapted for the real Apollo 13. All times are CT (US)

Question: Which astronaut, on whose book the movie was based, was played by Tom Hanks in the 1995 film `Apollo 13'?
Answer: JIM LOVELL